Consumers filed 570 federal lawsuits against debt collectors and creditors in just the last two weeks of March, the highest number so far this year, according to a tally by PaymentsSource.com. It was the most lawsuits filed in a two-week period all year.

The vast majority of the suits, 562, alleged violations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Another 60 involved companies that allegedly broke the Community Reinvestment Act, and 14 alleged that companies violated the Truth in Lending Act.

Some suits listed more than one violation. The lawsuits were filed by 626 plaintiffs against 515 different companies. All the lawsuits were all filed in the U.S. District Court system.

The high number of suits filed between March 16-31 brought the total number of lawsuits pending against collection agencies and creditors to 3,187, including 2,682 allegations that the companies violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, PaymentsSource.com found.

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Contributing writer for Credit.com, Chris graduated with honors from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and has reported for a number of publications including The New York Times, TIME magazine and Popular Mechanics.

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